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Finnish €6 wage trial has failed 'shamefully'

A well-meaning experiment to give trainees work experience in the construction industry has failed embarrassingly to get off the ground, reports Finnish business daily Kauppalehti. In an honest effort to attract new blood, a deal between the construction industry employers and their union counterpart would have allowed a pay rate of just €6 an hour for six months - well below the agreed wage minimum.

The 'qualification' was merely that the recruit should have no experience and get the nod from both the company shop steward as well as the employer. But the scheme has managed to attract just one company since its launch six months ago - and that company says there has not been a single applicant for the official starting date: 7 March.

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"This is shameful," Kyösti Suokas, Deputy Chairman of the Finnish Construction Trade Union was quoted as saying, "It's difficult for us to promote this, if companies are not interested. It doesn't demand anything more of the employer than to pay six euros instead of fifteen - there are no other costs."

"Now alarm bells should start ringing if companies' combined response is at this level. Many talk of 79,000 men disappearing (from the building sector) and this is a totally bureaucracy-free means to help them," Suokas opined.

The agreement will run until next February and both sides cling to the faint hope that events will improve - helped by the influx of foreigners, as younger Finns seem to shun the idea of doing manual labour and/or working outside in sub-zero temperatures. As it is, Estonian, Russian and English are commonly heard on building sites in Helsinki and on some other big project sites.

"We have some ideas that immigrants and part-time workers can be attracted to this as a starting point. But nothing concrete as yet," admits Kari.

Both union and the confederation have advertised the scheme in five regions around Finland supported by many on-the-spot presentations by their representatives. "It appears we have some sort of threshold, because when a company acquires work safety equipment, tools, courses and (official) documentation - that costs a thousand (euros)."

"Obviously many companies are thinking, 'What will a person's productivity be if they’ve never been on a building site before?’" concludes Kari.

The Central Organisation of Finnish Unions' chief economist Ilkka Kaukoranta proffered a similar excuse reasoning that labour cost is (evidently) not everything and that training and skills are important too and, "Employers do not always take the cheap option if it does not get the job done properly."